China has been playing Unleashed for almost a month, while the rest of the world got less than two weeks before the first Regional Tournament. As a result, the data we get to form our first Tier List of Riftbound's third set will be heavily leaning on Chinese tournaments.
To understand how different both regions are, one just needs to look at Ezreal, who has two results reported, a win and a top 8. Both come from the same tournament, an online event among western players. This means Ezreal is nowhere to be seen in China, replaced by the new Chaos - Mind Diana, while it won one of the few tournaments gathering more than 64 players in the west.
The very interesting part is what the first regional qualifier is held : Sydney, Australia. A place where both region could collide. There, it will be fascinating to see if the Chinese metagame, which we have plenty of data about, will influence what westerners play early on, as it is typically the case. Or the opposite, Sydney will be the stage to change what we thought about Unleashed so far.
Some things are certain, Such as Master Yi and Irelia being the front runners to win it all. We also know Diana and LeBlanc are the best releases in this new set, or that Aurora deck are on the rise.
However, there are a more than a dozen legends still being refined, or with enough results to assume they can be competitive, yet not that many to turn everyone into believers.
This first complete Tier List for Unleashed shows us the situation ahead of the first regional qualifier, with a big emphasis on the chinese environement. After Sidney, I'm sure a few things will feel different, although the foundation is probably set already.
| Tier | Legend Performance in 64+ tournaments in May. |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Origins Master Yi 4 Wins / 35 Top 8 |
| Tier 1 | Irelia 6 Wins / 21 Top 8 |
| Tier 1 | Diana 3 Wins / 13 Top 8 |
| Tier 1 | LeBlanc 2 Wins / 14 Top 8 |
| Tier 1 | Fiora 1 Win / 11 Top 8 |
| Tier 2 | Miss Fortune 1 Win / 4 Wins |
| Tier 2 | Sivir 6 Top 8 |
| Tier 2 | Sett 2 Wins |
| Tier 2 | Vex 5 Top 8 |
| Tier 2 | Rengar 5 Top 8 |
| Tier 2 | Draven 5 Top 8 |
| Tier 2 | Azir 1 Win / 2 Top 8 |
| Tier 3 | Kai'Sa 4 Top 8 |
| Tier 3 | Ezreal 1 Win / 1 Top 8 |
| Tier 3 | Kha'Zix 2 Top 8 |
| Tier 3 | Viktor 3 Top 8 |
| Tier 3 | Annie 3 Top 8 |
| Tier 3 | Leona 3 Top 8 |
| Tier 3 | Lillia 2 Top 8 |
| Tier 4 | Unleashed Yi 1 Top 8 |
| Tier 4 | Ornn 1 Top 8 |
| Tier 4 | Rek'Sai 1 Top 8 |
| Tier 4 | Teemo 1 Top 8 |
| Tier 4 | Yasuo 1 Top 8 |
| Tier 4 | Garen 1 Top 8 |
| Tier 5 | - Vi - Poppy - Pyke - Volibear - Jhin - Ahri - Lucian - Jax - Darius - Jinx - Lux - Lee Sin - Rumble - Renata Glasc - Ivern |
- Tier 1: Top cut performer and potential winner. Multiple results across tournaments.
- Tier 2: Solid performer, often contending for top cut spots, but typically falling short of winning it all.
- Tier 3: Competitive pick with an experienced pilot, combining both a good understanding of this legend and the tournament metagame.
- Tier 4: A rare top cut appearance, showing the legend can compete when the stars align, but will typically struggle.
- Tier 5: No top cut recorded over the past two weeks.
Tier 1
Master Yi - Wuju Bladesman
Performance - 4 Wins / 35 Top 8
It took a couple of weeks to start the engine, but the original Master Yi has been the dominant legend in Riftbound for the past three weeks. Its legend's ability is fantastic early on in the match to get set on a battlefield, while the Ambush keyword is great support for a hold oriented deck. Even if the strategy remains the same, the new units brought by the Unleashed set make the deck so much better overall.
It is a bit early to discuss a possible S tier, but a dominant showing in Sidney this weekend would absolutely get the conversation started.
Irelia
Performance - 6 Wins / 21 Top 8
Irelia isn't a flexible legend when it comes to her game plan. Indeed, the Blade Dancer only added the cards making the most sense in her already set strategy from Spiritforged, designed around SFD-057. UNL-150 joined SFD-048 to form a deadly duo of 4-cost cards, while UNL-053 is a great support unit early in a match.
Even if she isn't doing anything new, Irelia is the legend with the most wins in tournaments at the moment. Pretty ironic when we think she was the best legend without a win for a very long time in Spiritforged.
Diana
Performance - 3 Wins / 13 Top 8
Just like Ezreal in Spiritforged, it took a bit to refine the Chaos - Mind legend from Unleashed. Yet, just like the Prodigal Explorer again, it looks pretty good once the cards click together. So good Diana is the best new release according to tournament performances.
The strategy isn't as complicated as to play Ezreal. Indeed, Diana is playing a deck designed to dominate the early game, and keep the opponent at bay from there, unable to properly develop.
The Chaos - Mind arsenal packs answers for pretty much anything in the game, be it to counter a spell, deal with a unit of any size, draw, move, or even summon units back from our trash.
This leads to a deck with a million possibilities, which can be daunting to master at first. Yet, once in experienced hands, Diana is a very competitive legend.
LeBlanc
Performance - 2 Wins / 14 Top 8
The Deceiver quickly grabbed the title of best legend to release in Unleashed. It was only fair as many saw her signature synergy as a powerful one with UNL-172 available, while OGN-236 was patiently waiting in our collection.
With almost a month worth of data, it is now clear LeBlanc will be a strong competitor in Unleashed. However, her biggest challenge will be to find little wrinkles to add to her game plan, as everyone knows what to expect from the Deceiver.
The latest list to win a City Challenge exemplifies this idea, with more lategame added to the mix through OGN-234, and an intriguing synergy with SFD-177 allowing to move our reflections.
Fiora
Performance - 1 Win / 11 Top 8
When I had a look at the first weeks of Unleashed, Fiora had a spectacular first showing with her Baited Hook deck, and a disappointing week 2 with a mix of Midrange and Baited Hook lists.
Heading into the first big event, Fiora isn't as dominant as she was early in Unleashed, which is only fair considering a lot of other legends found their groove. Yet, the Grand Duelist still stabilized as a threat, definitely considered among top 8 contenders.
Tier 2
We kick off Tier 2 with the duo of OGN-160 legend, growing their influence over the Unleashed metagame as time passes. So far, there isn't too much to worry about to be fair, as Miss Fortune and Sivir don't even combine to equal the results of Fiora if we look at all the 64+ players tournaments held in May.
However, we can see both legends used very similar list to post their best result. Thus, some could be worried how far the OGN-160 can go if everyone starts playing refined lists.
Miss Fortune
Performance - 1 Win / 4 Wins
Sivir
Performance - 6 Top 8
Sett
Performance - 2 Wins
The Boss is an anomaly, with two tournament wins and no other top cut performances. In my opinion, this indicates a difficult legend to play, but one with a high ceiling once in experienced hands.
Both winning lists shared a lot of similarities, with the most recent one looking like a curated build of the other. If more players start using this core, we should quickly learn whether Sett is a serious competitor, or just a decent legend in Unleashed.
Vex
Performance - 5 Top 8
Hold oriented legends not named Master Yi have always struggled to dominate in Riftbound. In Unleashed, that strategy was given UNL-147 to help a bit, although it raised a few eyebrows to grant the card to the Chaos Domain.
Obviously, replacing the Mind domain for the Chaos one might help in terms of defensive tools available. Still, Vex's 5 top 8 performances is one of the best starts to a new set for a hold strategy, as I don't recall Ahri or Ornn doing this well.
Rengar
Performance - 5 Top 8
Rengar isn't doing so bad, although the Pridestalker lost a step compared to the early Unleashed tournaments. Arguably, the very unit centred strategy can be difficult to enforce once the opponent knows what to expect from Ambush units. The featured list is running a couple of hidden units to add to that surprise factor, which I believe is what Rengar should lean onto. Plus, it must be irritating to think Master Yi is using the Ambush keyword in a better way than the legend designed to leverage that keyword.
Draven
Performance - 5 Top 8
There is very little novelty for Draven in Unleashed. Actually, the featured list has zero new cards included.
While it is good to know a strategy from Spiritforged can compete, showing the new set didn't bring an insane power level spike. It also means Draven did not improve, and will be limited going forward as a result.
Azir
Performance - 1 Win / 2 Top 8
Azir added a couple of cards from the Unleashed set and managed to win the online tournament held for western players. Considering the Emperor of the Sands heavily builds around equipment cards, it is only fair to see a large part of its core remain the same in this new set. Yet, finding ways to improve your core synergy, or at least be a little flexible in your support tools, is how you remain relevant over multiple sets.
UNL-039 is just another piece of equipment to use with the ability, but UNL-042 and UNL-173 are cards opponents might want to keep in mind when playing against Azir.
Tier 3
Kai'sSa and Ezreal will probably climb to the upper tier once we have more data from the western metagame. Indeed, Kai'Sa has always found ways to develop a more tempo oriented build when her control play style didn't function in the metagame, but that typically came from Europe or North America, where players tend to be more aggressive.
As for Ezreal, the legend had to wait for the West to start playing to get going in Spiritforged. In Unleashed, both results listed today come from an online tournament held by a North American organisers, so it is safe to say Ezreal will once again post different results in each region. Annie as well, is a legend with a much better track record in the West compared to China.
Leona is the intriguing legend in this tier, as she got a lot of new support wiht Unleashed. In her featured list, there are 9 unique cards from Unleashed, plus a tenth in the side deck. This represent more than a third of the total deck, which means Leona might still be looking for her refined build as I write these lines.
I am more worried for Viktor. Indeed, the Herald of the Arcane typically thrives in those early tournaments, his struggling starting in Regional Qualifiers with a best-of-3 format.
Last, Lillia and Kha'Zix are new legends, meaning they might need a bit more time to find their groove. Lillia started strong and has been losing momentum over the past few weeks, which is not a good sign. Kha'Zix has yet to find a refined list most players agree upon. There is a chance the legend default to Aurora for high stakes tournaments, although its ability pushes for a midrange, conquer oriented play style.
Kai'Sa
Performance - 4 Top 8
Ezreal
Performance - 1 Win / 1 Top 8
Kha'Zix
Performance - 3 Top 8
Viktor
Performance - 3 Top 8
Annie
Performance - 3 Top 8
Leona
Performance - 3 Top 8
Lillia
Performance - 2 Top 8
Tier 4
I wanted to differentiate the legends with at least one top 8 recorded compared to those with nothing to show in tournaments so far. Yet, these legends are one top 8 removed from the bottom Tier, and we can expect the competition to toughen going forward.
Some of these are trying to push their own synergy, and struggling to do so. For these, maybe there is some hidden play patterns or tech cards to find in order to improve their stock. When it comes to the others, they will likely keep copying whatever the other legend in their domain combination is doing, especially when it is time to earn best-of cards.
Master Yi - Wuju Master
Performance - 1 Top 8
Ornn
Performance - 1 Top 8
Rek'Sai
Performance - 1 Top 8
Teemo
Performance - 1 Top 8
Yasuo
Performance - 1 Top 8
Garen
Performance - 1 Top 8
Tier 5
We have 15 legends without a top 8 recorded in May, 5 of them being new releases. For these, we can hope their best list has not been found yet, although we know not every new release can be competitive. We will likely see their real potential once best-of cards are on the line.
